Vilanova International World Music Festival
Vilanova International World Music Festival is a multicultural festival of music, workshops and conferences, that is taking place every year along the third weekend of July, in Vilanova i la Geltrú, in Catalonia, Spain, since 1981. It is the oldest world music festival in Catalonia and also in Spain having been far ahead of its time. The festival lasts for three days and the programme covers from 11 o’clock in the morning till night. There are more than thirty activities thought up for children and adults. Most of performances in this event are free. The festival is also characterized by the good atmosphere, the integration of all kind of audiences, locals from Vilanova i la Geltrú and also tourists. The festival is organized by Vilanova i la Geltrú Council, with Catalan national government support. This festival belongs to the most selected group of world music festivals in Spain: Etnosur (Alcalá la Real, Jaén, Andalucía), Getxo (Basque Country), La Mar de Músicas (Cartagena, Murcia), Ortigueira (Galicia), and Pirineos Sur (Aragón). In Catalonia other important event is Fira Mediterrania in Manresa, the most important folk market in Mediterranean area. A long list of artists -more than 300- from the Catalan Countries and all over the world -from more than sixty different countries- has paid a visit to the Festival throughout its history. Some of the names on the roll have become internationally well-known and famous artists. In 2008 the Festival incorporates for the first time a section addressed to children, baptized like "Small Musicians", and another known how "Vermut Meetings", in which the artists explain to the public his projects. In 2010 the Festival fulfils its 30th anniversary. Television of Catalonia has produced a special program devoted to the thirty years of the festival, through the program Rodasons. Also in 2010 the festival becomes creates the network Festivals with Charm, together with the festival Altaveu in Sant Boi de Llobregat, and Acústica in Figueres. In the number of the summer of 2010 the magazine Interfolk has said about Vilanova festival: "one of most important appointments of the musical summer in Spain. FiMPT was born in full effervescence of the process of recovery of traditional elements and festivities, and conceived like an open platform to everything type of traditional music, coming from the country and from international world, to announce the possibilities of expression and of definition of this type of music. Three decades after his creation, it has consolidated fully and has accredited as one of the most important examples in Europe in his style and one of the most complete in his gender". External links *Official website *FiMPT at Womex *FiMPT information at Womex website References * Albà, Josep: "El Festival Internacional de Música Popular Tradicional de Vilanova i la Geltrú", Revista d'etnologia de Catalunya, núm. 3, 1993, pp. 132-139. * Bianciotto, Jordi / Riera, Ferran: "El FiMPT de Vilanova i la Geltrú: bressol de festivals", Ajuntament de Vilanova i la Geltrú / Revista Sons, Barcelona, 2010. * FIMPT. Festival Internacional de Música Popular Tradicional. 25 anys. 1981-2005. Vilanova i la Geltrú,Ajuntament de Vilanova i la Geltrú / El Cep i la Nansa, 2005. * Soler, Joan (director): "Música, dansa i teatre popular", a Tradicionari. Enciclopèdia de la cultura popular de Catalunya, vol. 6, Enciclopèdia Catalana, barcelona, 2006. Category:Music festivals in Catalonia Category:World music festivals Category:Folk festivals Category:Music conferences Category:Music industry ca:Festival Internacional de Música Popular Tradicional de Vilanova i la Geltrú es:Festival Internacional de Música Popular Tradicional de Villanueva y Geltrú fr:Festival des musiques du monde à Vilanova i la Geltrú